Unfamiliar Construction: Material Programming and Deployable Form

Abstract

Consumer-oriented construction is shaped by a collection of plug and play products: dimension lumber, CMUs, appliances, window assemblies, premade vanities, and so forth—an extension of Reyner Banham’s poignant mid-century analysis of the American fascination with gizmos.1 This lingering postwar vision is delivered not as a ready-made kit in the vein of Sears, Roebuck & Co.’s early prefab homes but as individual parts nonetheless intended to go together, furnished by Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, and others.2